My kid asked me the other day to build him a radio, so I took his request kind of seriously and I showed him an AM radio circuit that we could put together. Then he started screaming and crying because he wants it now. Like in this instant. So I'll do something else instead. He's only 3, so his attention is definitely not like a 10 year old :)
Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
61–70 of 103 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#62Try out https://circuitmess.com. They have great kits.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Proprietary tooling that doesn’t work the way you want is unfortunately a great introduction to hardware work :/
This is exactly true, unfortunately: proprietary tooling that costs an absolute fortune, and has a UI straight out of the very worst of the 1980s, and only works on very select proprietary platforms, is absolutely the norm with hardware work.
Why is that the case? Are there no good open source alternatives to these tools?
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#64A few months ago, I saw this documentary about maze-solving robots that really impressed me: https://youtu.be/ZMQbHMgK2rw?feature=shared This might be an interesting use case.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#65My advice as a parent and electrical engineer. Buy kits. Don’t go to electrical engineering. There is nothing interesting there. Only lots of wasted time. Your son is not interested how to calculate resistor’s value in motor control circuit. Your son needs no frustration with failing printed circuit boards. He needs something spectacular what moves (and is visually appealing) and causes light errors to learn from.
My path: Chinese 3 wheel chassis, Arduino and I2C color sensor. Line follower robot to be extended to multiple color sensors. It sounds easy, but it will occupy you with your sine for few weekends. Afterwards you’ll see what part is most interesting for your son. Bigger robot, bigger processor, bigger wheels, more speed, a camera instead of color sensor. Maybe just cool paint.
Good luck with your project!
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
The main issue with this is cost, few can afford the thousands it would take to build a competition bot like that. However! I do think you could easily adapt it to a smaller embedded form factor and do like a beyblades style battle in a tiny arena. Definitely agree about being hands on and open ended, the skills you learn will take you very far in engineering but also just in life!
I can't say I've looked into it in any detail, but I've seen 'antweight' and other extremely small/lightweight battle bot videos pop up on my youtube feed from time to time. Stuff that mostly looks 3d printed fighting in more or less an aquarium tank.
Idea: battlebots in a literal aquarium tank. If the bots were ships then they could be actually sunk, which is much more dramatic. This would also allow them to be made larger more safely. I see modified jetskis trying to destroy each other. (My money would be on the urkrainian team.)
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#67My advice as a parent and electrical engineer. Buy kits. Don’t go to electrical engineering. There is nothing interesting there. Only lots of wasted time. Your son is not interested how to calculate resistor’s value in motor control circuit. Your son needs no frustration with failing printed circuit boards. He needs something spectacular what moves (and is visually appealing) and causes light errors to learn from. My…
Yes, and the OP's son also just wants to have fun with his parent!
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#68My advice as a parent and electrical engineer. Buy kits. Don’t go to electrical engineering. There is nothing interesting there. Only lots of wasted time. Your son is not interested how to calculate resistor’s value in motor control circuit. Your son needs no frustration with failing printed circuit boards. He needs something spectacular what moves (and is visually appealing) and causes light errors to learn from. My…
When I was a child, I loved electronics. I would take apart various electronic devices, but as you said, it was just frustration with no feedback. Then my father, seeing this, took a speaker and made a circuit that emitted noises. I loved it.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#69Plugging my own robot: Blossom is an open-source social robot made from 3D-printed or lasercut parts and a crocheted / knit cover.
https://github.com/hrc2/blossom-public
It's basically a floating head that others have customized with more functionality (e.g. cameras, microphones, screens, control with a phone) for research applications in human-robot interaction (education, telepresence, an assistant for ADHD task-focusing and CBT). We ran ~90 minute bot-building workshops for middle schoolers; they all successfully completed their robots and seemed to enjoy the hands-on experience.
Re: Ask HN: Best way to learn robotics with a 10 year old?
#70A good starting point is to learn the Logo programming language, get comfortable with that. It is not robotics but it helps to develop core skills.
Then maybe robotics kits and such.